Decade of dominance pushed to the side as Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies prep for Saturday

EUGENE -- Pound for pound, Oregon secondary coach John Neal might be the fittest guy in the Ducks' locker room. The 57-year-old Neal is notoriously known for his freakish workouts, keeping him in a physique more in tune with the players 37-years his junior than his age group.

But when it comes to looking back 10 years ago, Neal hesitates to rekindle memories of the start of Oregon's decade-long run of dominance over the Washington Huskies.

In his mind, there's already enough salt added to the pepper of the goatee he's grown this season.

"That was like six grandkids ago and 750,000 gray hairs and stress and change," Neal said on Tuesday. "I never look back. It's impossible."

The start of the streak runs relatively congruent with the beginning of Neal's career at Oregon. The former defensive backs coach at Alabama-Birmingham arrived in Eugene the spring of 2003 and experienced his first taste of the Ducks/Dawgs rivalry that fall, a 42-10 loss at the hands of the Huskies.

It was the last time the Seattle team has beaten the boys from Eugene, though Neal said he'd approach this Saturday as if it's still his first game against the rival. He has to, he said.

"We just live for the moment and we better because I have 12 years of great success at Oregon and none of that matters except for the next practice and the next day," he said. "And I hate to live in that world, but the intensity and the drive to maintain is why we do this."

This is a sentiment that has been echoed throughout the Oregon program for years. Coaches preach the day-by-day, week-by-week focus. Win the Day and all. It's a mantra that has let Oregon overcome devastation, such as the loss to Arizona, and regroup for a blowout win against UCLA.

Washington may be a more natural rival than the Bruins, and the Ducks do have history on their side, but everyone seems to be downplaying the significance of a streak that has a chance of extending into a second decade.

"I feel like it's just another game," senior cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu said. "I can't really say that this has any extra juice than other years we've played them."

It would be fair to assume the Ducks would view it differently if the script was flipped, but the Huskies have a similar mindset. History hasn't been on their side, but new coach Chris Petersen said if they're obsessed with the past, than the future won't stand a chance. And, if we're talking history, Petersen is 2-0 in his career against the Ducks. That was a two-year streak he had with his Boise State Broncos in 2008 and 2009.

"How are we going to play?" Petersen said. "If we're not extremely ... playing our best football we've played all year, have as much attention to detail as we've had all year, play as hard as we've played all year, we're not going to have a chance. So it comes back to us. So it doesn't necessarily have to do with anything in the past. It comes down to playing good football."

Good football would make coaches all around happy. It also might help Neal, a guy who could likely run a 4.6 40, out with his seemingly unfair body image.

"Look at my face, man. I'm like 700 years old," he said. "This is crazy."